IT’S ALL YOURS NOW, MAX
Verstappen roars to victory from tenth on grid to all but clinch the title as Ferrari blunder again
MAX Verstappen doesn’t require a race director to help him this time. He has Ferrari on his side. Yes, the Red Bull man drove a bravura race from tenth on the grid to claim his eighth win in 13 rounds, ripping around the Hungaroring to send himself on his summer holiday in breezy spirits.
But Ferrari’s boffins are the gift that keep giving, as they contrived to dismantle Charles Leclerc’s prospects of winning the race — and the world championship itself — by hobbling him on the wrong tyres. He finished sixth.
The Monegasque had looked to be in a strong position once he overcame the stout resistance of pole-sitter George Russell after 30 of the 70 laps. Having gone around the outside of Turn 1 and braked late, Leclerc zoomed into a commanding lead. He changed from medium tyres to a new set of the same. All hunky-dory, for now.
But it was his second stop that jammed the anchors on him. He was put on hards. Why? The medium-medium-hard strategy was not even countenanced by tyre suppliers Pirelli. And when the race was over, Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton and Russell, who finished second and third respectively to keep Mercedes’ revival flying, confirmed their teams never vaguely contemplated adopting the Ferrari approach.
Back at the media pen, Leclerc was lost for answers. He was as calm as could be expected, but then he has had a lot of practice deflecting dejection in recent weeks.
He did not turn his guns on his team. They have given him a very decent car this year, and he is grateful for it. But unreliability, strategic madness and his own gaffes have undermined him. So much so that he is 80 points behind Verstappen — more than three wins’ worth, with nine grands prix remaining.
‘I said that I wanted to stay on the medium tyre as long as possible so we need to understand why we went on the hards,’ said Leclerc, as baffled as the next man. ‘We pitted very early for them, too.
‘A race like this is frustrating and we need to get better as a whole. It always feels like there is something going on, whether it is reliability or mistakes.
‘We will try to use the few days we have to reset, analyse and understand where we need to be better because this is extremely important.’ A few minutes later, his team principal Mattia Binotto claimed it was not the strategy, after all, that was wrongheaded; it was simply a case of the car not being as fast as expected in the conditions. It was cool, blowy and spots of rain fell at this tight and twisty track.
Well, not entirely, Mattia. Leclerc was extremely brisk for the first half of the race, before the hards went on. Worse, he pitted a third time for soft tyres. No other leading team made three stops. As Leclerc pointed out: ‘We lost 20 seconds just for that.’
It was an entertaining race. Russell drove strongly, having secured his first pole position the day before.
Hamilton, (left) on a different strategy from his younger teammate, made just as big an impression, working his way up from seventh, following a problem with his DRS in qualifying that pushed him down the grid. Making good use of his softer tyres, the seven-time champion finally passed Russell five laps from the end. Verstappen also dazzled in his own brilliant comeback drive, having lost power during qualifying. His Red Bull was wonderfully quick and he made purposeful use of his opportunity to take the chequered flag nearly eight seconds in front. His only glitch was a spin once he had taken the lead. It meant he had to overtake Leclerc twice.
As for the vanquished Leclerc, whose needless spin a week before in France cost him so dearly, he said on Thursday that he realistically needed to win all ten remaining races. Too late for that now after one red bottle accidentally fell here.
‘If we don’t get better, it is going to be very difficult,’ said the Ferrari man. Really, it is about moving towards next year now. A serious study of the way they operate is required.
Carlos Sainz finished fourth in the other Ferrari, which was hardly a crumb of comfort to take home to Maranello.
Verstappen and Red Bull have the momentum. And the hiatus between now and the Belgian Grand Prix on August 28 is unlikely to disturb their rhythm. Thanks to themselves, and to Ferrari.